Canceling Klitschko

We Don’t Want This Anymore

HBO announced today that they will not be broadcasting the Wladimir Klitschko-Ruslan Chagaev heavyweight unification fight. Chagaev was a replacement for the injured David Haye. This will mark the first time a heavyweight unification fight will not be televised in the United States.

It was with disappointment that I read that David “Hayemaker” Haye had pulled out of the fight with Klitschko. His bold threat of ridding the heavyweight division of “sucky heavyweights” would have been a welcome relief if he were successful. Here is hoping Haye can do just that if the fight does get made and he knocks Klitschko on his ass.  

Why?

The heavyweight division has not had an exciting fighter since the heydays of Holyfield and Tyson.  HBO has no doubt had it with the heavyweight “champions” and has decided to throw the gauntlet down. This has been a long time coming. They have been Klitschko’s enabler, forcing us to watch his defenses against Sultan Ibragimov, Ray Austin, and Tony Thompson among others. Snooze fests all… If the heavyweight division were admitted into a hospital, it would be diagnosed with “failure to thrive.”

The elephant in the room is the fact that the fighters from the former Soviet Union are as bland as boiled beets. They do not possess the charisma or that certain “it” quality that make people tune in. The recent Ring magazine ratings below suggest that the trend will not be changing anytime soon.

1. Wladimir Klitschko (Ukraine)
2. Vitali Klitschko (Ukraine)
3. Ruslan Chagaev (Germany)
4. Alexander Povetkin (Russia)
5. Nikolai Valuev (Russia)
6. Eddie Chambers (USA)
7. Chris Arreola (USA)
8. Alexander Dimetrenko (Russia)
9. David Haye (England)
10. John Ruiz (USA)

Six out of the top ten fighters are from the former Soviet Union. This is a unique historical occurrence in boxing. Americans have ALWAYS dominated the heavyweight division.  Now there are only three American fighters in the top ten. And even that is very weak ray of hope. John Ruiz is washed up and gets my vote as the most boring fighter of all time (maybe he can become an honorary Russian?). Eddie Chambers is skilled but obviously too small. Chambers versus the Klitschko brothers would not resemble David versus Goliath, it would resemble Webster versus Goliath.  Chris Arreola has materialized to be a faint hope but unless he exerts some discipline over his diet and training he will remain just that, a “poster child of what could have been”. Another false hope.

Hope? Hope was a term in boxing that applied only to the “White Hopes” of the early 20th century. It was a brand name applied to white American boxers whom segregationists wanted to defeat Jack Johnson. Who would have that one hundred years later the heavyweight division would be dominated by Eastern Europeans and that Germany would be the primary venue for “heavyweight championship bouts.” So forget “white hope”, how about an “American hope” period? Again, aside from Chris Arreola there is not a single AMERICAN threat out there.

What Happened?

In the 1970s, the division was dominated by Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, and Joe Frazier. Fantastic contenders like Jerry Quarry, Ron Lyle, and Ken Norton among others helped make the heavyweights THE glamour division. In the 1980s, Larry Holmes ruled the roost with talented contenders Greg Page, Michael Dokes, and Gerry Cooney stirring some curiosity. The late 1980s through the 1990s showed Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Riddick Bowe and Lennox Lewis finally breaking the glass ceiling for England. In fact, for the past thirty years, American heavyweights faced no real foreign threat aside from Lennox Lewis and the arguable exception of South African Gerrie Coetzee.  

Wow, have things changed.

The Caucasian heavyweight or “white hope” is now a long forgotten anachronism.

There is a dearth of white American fighters, let alone heavyweights. There are no Gerry Cooneys or even a budding Tommy Morrisson on the horizon. Today’s highest ranking Caucasian heavyweight? Try former college basketball player Tye Fields.  

Things aren’t much better when it comes to African American heavyweights. In fact, the African American heavyweight is becoming just as extinct as the white American heavyweight. Who is out there? There is the aforementioned Eddie Chambers. After him there is a surplus of washouts, has-beens and has-beens who never were. According to boxrec.com, the highest ranking African American heavyweight boxers are Eddie Chambers, Tony Thompson (37 years old), Lamon Brewster (36 years old), Hasim Rahman (36 years old) and Ray Austin (38 years old). And they all belong to the Klitschko Knockout Victim Club.

Not tough enough

Boxing historian Bert Randolph Sugar remarked that the best heavyweight in America “plays for the Baltimore Ravens. His name is Ray Lewis.” Sugar suggests that our premiere athletes are opting for the glamour and money of the NFL. Commentator/trainer Teddy Atlas adds to that argument in pointing the blame at the decline in participation on our amateur boxing program. They both make good points but they don’t go deep enough.

There is something different from the psyche of American fighters, specifically heavyweights that used to be there and no longer is. Maybe it is heart. Maybe it is drive. The American fight fan is starved to see someone with even a smidgen of the bluster and bravado of Ali. Witnessing someone with the relentlessness of Joe Frazier nowadays is just wishful thinking. The power hitting of Foreman or Tyson appears to be a once in a generation event. Change is here and it has come in the form of the European paw and parry style of boxing. 

Once upon a time the Brits were the whipping boys of American heavyweights. Ironically they have the only fighter capable of doing something about the “sucky heavyweights.”